Week 11 - Post Op Musings

A bit of a quieter week this week, and with good reason. On Wednesday, I had a new experience (I can’t quite bring myself to count it as a new ‘opportunity’) as I had keyhole surgery. It was a simple operation, and nothing serious (they were removing a simple cyst from one of my ovaries) but scary nonetheless as it was my very first anaesthetic, and I had to put my complete trust in a room full of strangers that they could safely do their job. All went well, although I have barely moved from the sofa since.

So, in terms of the Challenge, I was mainly busy this week in the kitchen, before the op, trying out different recipes and making vats of nice healthy soups, all ready to aid my recovery when I came out of hospital. Firstly, I made Spinach Soup (4 servings), which, despite the spinach being a minor ingredient compared to the amount of potatoes in it, still came out a horrible, or, as I like to call it, ‘healthy’ green colour. The type of colour that makes you really appreciate there must be something terribly good for you in it. I am yet to try it, as it was put straight in the freezer.

Next on the list was Curried Lentils, Carrot and Cashew Nut Soup (6 servings). This one appealed to me mainly because I’ve never heard of anyone putting nuts in a soup before. The end result looked pretty good (and the spoonful I had before freezing it tasted pretty good too) The process for making it was a bit tedious though, involving grating 6 carrots, which takes a surprising amount of time and makes your hands really cold if you’ve only just removed them from the fridge. I’m also not sure what grating the carrots achieved, given it only take about 10 minutes to cook carrot anyway, and the whole thing ends up blended.

My third soup was Mushroom Soup. Other people’s mushroom soups are firm favourite of mine, so I was excited to try this one. Having chopped 1.4kg of mushrooms (yes, 1.4kg!) there seemed few other ingredients – one onion, some stock, and supposedly some sherry, but I didn’t have any so I left it out. Surprisingly, the finished result tasted like someone had blended 1.4kg of mushrooms and not much else. Luckily, I really like mushrooms! Given I had run out of room in the freezer by this point, I did get to try a portion on Wednesday evening. Perhaps a little cream would help the next 3 servings along a little……
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With all this cooking, I took a new opportunity of a culinary theme this week and learnt how to make chicken stock. It started with a roast chicken that Matt decided to cook, mid-week, for sandwich fillings. A few days later, I was left with a chicken carcass and a load of bones, which I would normally just throw away. Knowing I was about to undertake the above soup-making marathon, I figured I could put the chicken to good use, and boiled it up for a couple of hours with an onion and some herbs. I’m again yet to taste the results, as it went into one of the soups which is now frozen for next week. 

Also on a food theme, I started my normal January health kick last week and I’m pleased to report it has paid off, as I’m now back to my pre-Christmas weight, so hopefully I can start progress again on my challenge to lose 30lbs! I tried 2 different recipes this week, both lunch-time concoctions, and both from a Cambridge Weight Plan recipe book. The first was a Chicory, Goat’s Cheese and Pear Salad. It didn’t go entirely to plan, as I couldn’t find any chicory in Asda, but it worked just as well (probably better, as least bitter) with normal salad leaves. I sliced pear over the salad, toasted some pine nuts for a minute or two in a frying pan, and warmed the goat’s cheese under the grill. I also cheated a bit by using a ready-made dressing rather than making my own, but needs must. Some might not agree that a salad counts as a recipe, but for me, I don’t usually make salads, and even when I do, I would never have thought to include this combination of ingredients.
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The second recipe was called ‘Cheat’s Pizza’ and was a low calorie alternative to real pizza, using a wholemeal pitta bread as the base, and adding passata, mushrooms, peppers (from a jar) and mozzarella and cooking in the oven for 10 minutes. Super quick and exceptionally tasty!

This week saw my first new ‘reconnect with 30 old friends’ as part of my challenge. Facebook informed me one morning that I had been friends with Ollie Henson on Facebook for 8 years, along with some pictures of us on a walking holiday in Morocco together. I shared this with Ollie on Facebook, and an hour or so later, he messaged me saying he was in Scotland, just about to start the long drive home and could he pop in and see me in Edinburgh? I offered him a bed for the night and we had a good chin-wag and a reminisce over old times. Who says that technology makes us less connected?
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Finally, this week saw one new hairstyle, a pull-through plait (modelled below) and a new film: The Danish Girl. I really enjoyed the film, marveling at both the performance by both lead actors, and also the bravery of the character through what must have been a difficult and challenging experience. 

Three things I learnt this week:

1. When you make soup from predominantly one ingredient, it tastes like something made from predominantly one ingredient………and doesn’t magically taste like a delicious soup….. obvious I know, but a learning for me nonetheless.
2. David Bowie – having previously only been aware of him in passing, I have learnt about many of his songs, personnas, films and how much he meant to people. I have also learnt that not knowing about David Bowie seems to be a point of ridicule and bullying among my friends and seemingly a mark of failure on my parents for lack of musical education.
3. You use your stomach muscles for pretty much everything. Since having mine cut open, I’ve realised just how much you use them, not only for obvious stuff like getting up off the sofa and turning over in the night, but also for flushing the loo and pouring a cup of tea.